VITAL SIGNS; Children With Hearing Loss Spend More Time in E.R.

By ERIC NAGOURNEY

Published: November 20, 2007

Children who have hearing problems are much more likely than other children to end up in an emergency room with a wide variety of injuries, researchers say.

''Children with hearing loss had significantly higher treatment rates for every injury type, bodily location and external cause,'' the researchers write in the November/December issue of The Annals of Family Medicine. The study was led by Dr. Joshua R. Mann of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

The study could not determine whether hearing-impaired children were at higher risk of injury, the study said. It may be, for example, that their families are more likely to seek treatment. And children with hearing problems often have other medical issues that could make them more disposed to injury.

But even so, the researchers said, it appears likely that their hearing problems do put them at higher risk. The most likely explanation is that they often miss warnings signs of danger, like the sound of a car or footsteps. They may also have trouble hearing a warning from their parents to watch out, the study said.

The study looked at more than 138,000 injuries in children treated at South Carolina emergency rooms in 2003. The injuries included fractures, sprains and strains, burns and cuts. About 90,000 children had normal hearing, and about 1,000 had hearing loss.

About 1 in 10 American children of school age may suffer at least some hearing loss, the study said.